Knight In Brownish Armor
by Citrinewarrior
Summary: A Short little story that came to mind after watching Amnesia:Justine. VanellopexRancis fluff. Song used in chapter 2 is Fly Love by Jamie Foxx.
1. The Darkness

"Vanellope, you've got to go back to _Sugar Rush. _You need your sleep or you crash-a lot." Ralph wheedled gently. He wanted to take her home, but she wouldn't go because of something Taffyta had told her- that was all he knew, as Vanellope had refused to tell him what it was.  
"No! I'm never going back there again! They'll get me!" She latched onto the wall as Ralph tried to pull her out of his house.  
"If you would just tell me why you won't go, we could figure something out." He reasoned, though a frightened Vanellope listened to no reason, and she was smart enough to see through any  
"I can't She said they would get me if I told anyone!" Okay, this was ridiculous! What did Taffyta tell her that was that bad?

"Vanellope, you're forgetting who we're talking about here. If anything tries to get you, I'll wreck it, okay?" No matter how smart or clever she was, she was still nine.  
"Fine, B-but you have to promise!" She demanded. He smiled softly at her.  
"I promise."

"Uh, O-okay...So, that new game they wheeled in yesterday, you know _Amnesia? _Y-yeah, well... There's supposed to be three enemy's, and they're just like the Cybugs, cause they don't know they're in a game. She T-told me that the three meanest, ugliest, most disgusting ones escaped into sugar rush! A-and I can't go back because they'll kill me and eat me!" Tears welled up in her hazel eyes. "Don't make me go back..."She let go of the wall, sliding into a sulking position against it.

"You can stay, but just tonight, okay?" He said firmly. Her eyes lit up instantly.  
"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed, running literal circles around him.

He grabbed her by her hood, stopping her movements. "When is your bedtime? He asked.  
"Usually eight but I can handle nine." She said.  
"Nine then." He said. His plan was to tire her out so much that she couldn't help but sleep. When she did, he would simply take her back to _Sugar Rush _and she'd wake up in the morning in her bed.

Nine ended up being an understatement, as it actually took her until two in the morning to get her to fall asleep. He yawned, picking her up gently, as pure experience told him that even her own frightening thoughts could rouse her from sleep. Of course, this was difficult to do because he was quite literally nine feet tall and it seemed to him like everything he touched broke.

Luckily for him, he made it to Game Central Station without dropping Vanellope of breaking anything major (windows weren't something major to him). He had just reached the entrance to the candy-coated-racing game when a little blonde haired boy with a _Reese's _on his head walked up to him, panting heavily. Ralph just looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

"The name's Fluggerbutter, Rancis Fluggerbutter." He stated properly, straightening his shirt a little.  
"Ralph, but you knew that. Are you here for...?" He shook Vanellope a bit for emphasis.  
"Don't drop her!" He exclaimed. Then he realized she was sleeping and shut himself up quickly. She stirred a bit in her sleep and murmured something in a frightened voice.

He smiled softly at her for a bit. "Tough as nails? Yeah right. Come on erm, Ralph was it? _The Whopper House_ is locked, and I possess the key." He was almost robotic in his manner of speaking, but his voice betrayed that.  
"Uh, Okay." Ralph said, and walked after him.


	2. Can only Be Solved

The trip to the castle was short, and there were many occasions where they almost woke her up, but they managed to get there even though Ralph's hair was thick with taffy.  
"Sorry about your hair friend. It'll wash out easy though, don't you worry." Even though he was whispering, it must have been enough to wake her, because she spluttered to life sloppily.  
"Ah-Ah! Stay away! I only look Delicious! Please! Don't kill me! Eat someone else! I'll glitch you out if you do, I swear!" It took all of Ralph's ability to not accidentally drop her on the ground.

"Vanellope! Calm down!" Ralph said to her. It had no effect, as she didn't hear him through her horrified screaming. Rancis smiled softly at her.  
"Miss President, You need to calm down." He said calmly. His voice was comparable to roughed velvet, and was calming to the mind. At least it was for her, enough to stop her squirming for good. She freed herself from her heroic villains grip, standing on her own, though more or less shaky. She was also quite disheveled, as her _Twizzler_ hair tie had fallen to the ground and her hair now fell haphazardly down her shoulders. She stood dead frozen in front of Rancis, and Ralph, for the first time, was absolutely confused as to why she wasn't being her normal bubbly self.

"U-Uh...Rancis! What are you doing here? Wait, you wouldn't be in...So that means...I'm in...Ahh!" She screamed, rushing around frantically, searching for a place to hide. "They're gonna get me!" She was downright horrified now, until she almost passed out, collapsing on her knees, clutching her chest and breathing hard.

"Miss President! Calm down or you'll hurt yourself." He was still calm and collected as always. She quit flustering around when she heard his voice, still shivering but at least not running around. "Okay, calm down. Is something wrong?"

T-the s-s-suitors! Malo, and Alois, A-and Bas-sile..."

"Calm down, It's alright now." Bad move, buddy.

"That's what Alois says just before he kills her!" She whimpered.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. Come on, we're going inside." He threw the key to Ralph who just _barely _caught it.

"Open the door while I try to calm her down, right?" He asked.

"Sure." He fumbled with the lock for a bit before he got it open-but he was just in time.

"Come on, Miss President, I'll take you upstairs." He said softly. She nodded and followed him upstairs.

Rancis had turned on the lights, and they were sitting on her bed, not saying much, and yet, they both felt strangely calm, though the "Brave president" was still shivering some.

"Care to share what's wrong?" Rancis tried to approach the subject lightly, but he couldn't help but feel he had gone about it incorrectly.

She sighed and said nothing, so he tried again.

"Darkness not sit well with you?" The tiniest blush formed on her cheeks.

"Yeah, you've got me..." She said, slightly crestfallen. "I guess you're just gonna laugh at me now..."

"I wouldn't do anything like that." He soothed. "Everyone's afraid of something. Like me, I'm afraid of snakes, lizards...you know, the beasts." He said to her, his voice still soft. He put an arm around her shoulder for emphasis. Vanellope yawned quietly.

"I'm a little tired..." She muttered.

"Oh! I'll go then..." Rancis offered.

"Y-you don't have to..."

"You need to race tomorrow..."

"Oh. Um...Before you go..."

"Yes?"

"Will you...sing to me?" Vanellope felt stupid asking but when Ralph sang to her it put her to sleep quickly.

Rancis paused. "If you want me to, Miss President..."They were both blushing now, for this was becoming an undeniably romantic moment, yet neither would embrace it.

"Call me by my name."

"Okay then. Do you have a song in mind?"

"Surprise me." some of her old sassiness was displaying itself again. It took him a few seconds to think of one, however.

"_Wasn't really thinking, wasn't really looking _

_Wasn't searching for an answer...When I saw your face..._

_Saw you looking at me, saw you peeking,_

_Out from under moonbeams..._

_Through the palm trees...swaying in the breeze..._

_I...Know...I'm feeling so much more...Than ever before..._

_And so I'm giving more to you, than I thought I could do..._"

The peanut-butter-boy's blush intensified with every word he sang, and before long Vanellope was asleep on her bed, without even pulling on her covers. Ralph was watching them through the keyhole glad to see what was going on, glad to see what was happening. Rancis seemed like a nice young man, at least. He smiled to himself before turning and leaving.

Rancis didn't plan to leave...At least not tonight. If she woke up in the pitch black in the middle of the night, she would probably hurt herself in her haste to escape the large building, He reasoned with himself. So, sighing, he pulled a large pillow from the far side of her room, sleeping on it peacefully. Occasionally, Vanellope would stir in her sleep and shiver, but Rancis could calm her by humming the song he had sang earlier. He had also given her a set of covers too, so she wasn't cold.

"I'm going to talk to Taffyta in the morning about this…It's getting way out of hand…" Rancis murmured to himself, yawning.


	3. By The Help

The day was over, the races as well, and Vanellope's friends (well, the girls at least) were interrogating her about what had happened last night.

"So... where were you last night? Where was Rancis?" Jubileena asked.

"Yeah, he wasn't at his house last night." Candlehead added, Making Vanellope blush a little.

"Are you guys...you know...Do you like him?" Crumbelina asked.

"Come on, out with it!" Taffyta jumped right to the point.

Vanellope's glitch showed itself again when she was asked these questions.

"Maybe a little..." She said quietly.

"Tell him how you feel!" Snowbanna said. "If you don't, you might regret it."

"Okay... I guess I'll do that the next time I see him." Vanellope replied, ignoring the girls hounding her with stupid questions.

"Go for it!" Jubileena said encouragingly.

Of course, half way across the sugary land, the boys were having what Swizzle referred to as "manly man talk."

"Dude, you are so in there!" Gloyd, one of Rancis's best friends said.

"You really like her?" Swizzle (Swizz, as he liked to be called) asked him, leaning against Gloyd's house-Made of a pumpkin, it was very soft and squishy and comfy, perfect for leaning against.

"Yes...You could say that." Rancis replied, blushing.

"Tell her how you feel! Ohmygosh you are so IN THERE!" Gloyd exclaimed happily. "That's my boy!"

"Gloyd is right." Swizzle agreed. "You should tell her or she might lose interest."

"I'll tell her the next time I see her." He said tentatively.

"Well, that's not the point! How did you sing her to sleep? How does that happen?" Gloyd asked, picking candy corn out of his pocket to snack on.

"Um...Taffyta told her a story about the new game they installed yesterday."

"You mean _Amnesia: Justine? _ That game is rumored to be the scariest game ever made!" Swizzle smirked. "She needed a little comforting, huh?"

"Yeah." Rancis said. "I'm gonna have to have a talk with Taffyta...Vanellope was really scared..."

"Yeah! Be an Alpha!" Gloyd said loudly, still hyper from his best friend's accomplishment.

"Yo, we should round everyone up and do something, you know, to brighten the mood." Swizzle suggested.

"Good Idea." Rancis agreed.

Rancis's first thought was to find Vanellope and talk to her. It was getting late though, and he was getting worried (Vanellope still couldn't find her way back to _The Whopper House_-let alone want to be in it by herself...and she was afraid of the dark.) now. What if something scared her...What if it was Taffyta? His searching became more frantic after that.

Vanellope was equally worried when she saw the sun set. _They're gonna get me, _She thought.

She tried reasoning with herself, taking softly to calm herself down.

"They wouldn't hurt me...Right? Of course not, Vanellope... You are just a stupid little girl to them...oh, where's a Ralph when you need one?" That wasn't working, so she tried again. "You didn't kill them...You didn't torture them, why would they come after you?" Still not working...

"Hush now...It's alright..." Came a zombified voice, followed by metallic clanging.. Vanellope gasped in terror, looking for a place to hide.

"Let me...Taste you..." Another voice came...It was happy, but still quite murderous. Vanellope gaped wide; giving up on hiding-She turned and ran as fast as she could.

"I WILL find you..." A deeper, gruffer zombie voice came, and it was closer that the others.

"Stay away!" Tears started to form in the small girls eyes.

"Justine...Turn around...We want to see you again..." All three sounded at once. She gulped...and turned around.

There they were. All three, Alois, Malo, and Basile. They all grinned nastily at her, pushing her onto the candy-grass and preparing to kill her. They all looked at each other, and then... they struck.


	4. You May Just

Rancis was just about to give up. He had been looking for an hour and a half in the pitch black with no clues to go on. He turned to go home-But a loud shriek came from the other direction, one that was easily recognizable.

"Vanellope-I'm coming!" He ran in the direction of the scream, dead set on destroying whatever it was that had scared her.

He had found her _just in time, _as he possessed a flashlight and shined it on Vanellope and her assailants. He saw her, Glitching hard, as the three suitors from Amnesia surrounded her.

But wait...One of them, Malo was it, had a sharp blade welded into his arm. That wasn't right! But he couldn't think about that now, as they struck her again, this time drawing blood. She screamed in pain, curling up into a tighter ball and sobbing harder. Rancis sprang into action, dashing under Alois's legs (he was right in front of her, thus he made the best target) and tripping him.

The suitor fell on his behind, and to Rancis's surprise, there was a cloth tag hanging from it! He wasn't real!

Alois turned to him and readied themselves for an attack. They were fast, but Rancis was faster, and he managed to locate and pull a zipper on the faux zombies back.

The suitor fell apart effortlessly, and Alois was revealed to be Taffyta in a costume. Rancis shook his head as if he couldn't believe it, before shutting off the other two before they hit Vanellope again.

He ran over to Vanellope, who was sobbing and babbling incoherently and realized she was too consumed with fear to do anything but shiver and cry. He picked her up, finding it difficult (not because she was heavy-heck she was the smallest racer in the game, but he just wasn't very strong as all) to do so.

About thirty minutes later, he had reached the entrance to the castle, setting Vanellope down and unlocking the door. By then she could stand on her own, so she stood on two shaky legs a Rancis walked inside and turned on the lights. Taffyta went inside too-guiltily, not that they wanted her there, seeing as she...You know, dressed up as Alois and tried to scare the skirt off of Vanellope.

He led her over to a newly placed couch in the foyer.

"I'm going to turn on the lights." He said.

When he returned, he smiled warmly at Vanellope.

"Go upstairs, Vanellope. I need to talk to Taffyta here." He said. She followed instructions, sending a wounded glance in Taffyta's direction. She just smirked back.

Vanellope had just finished getting into her night attire (consisting of slippers and green double-striped-larger-than-she-needed shirt and pants) when she heard frustrated shouts coming from right below her.

"Never...Have I _ever..._Wanted to hit someone in all my LIFE! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? NO WAIT, SCRATCH THAT! YOU OBVIOUSLY WEREN'T! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SCARED SHE MUST'VE BEEN? YOU ACTUALLY CUT HER!" Rancis's voice rung throughout the entire castle and Vanellope heard him crystal clear.

Apparently, the peanut butter pint sized's shouts were enough to rouse Gloyd from his slumber. _Man, somebody messed up bad, _He thought. Just then, His candy-corn cell phone went off, and he rushed to grab it.

"Yello?" He asked.

"Gloyd, this is Rancis. I need you to run down to my house and drive the RV1 down to _The Whopper House. _Can I trust you to do this?"

"Can I ask why you want me to?"

"No."

"Alright." Gloyd was out the door and on his way in thirty seconds flat.

"SHE COULD BE MENTALLY SCARRED! I AM GOING TO...AARRGGHH! I WANT TO HIT YOU SO BADLY I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF!" He took his peanut-butter-cup off his head and snapped it in half.

Vanellope curled up into a ball under her covers. She had now realized she was bleeding from the wounds the fake suitor had given her, and she was afraid that if she got out of bed, the real ones would come after her(It was believed throughout all of _Sugar Rush _that monster could never get you if you were under your covers).She squeezed her eyes shut.

"What did I do to deserve this? "She whined. "It's alright, Vanellope, you can talk to Ralph in the morning. He can help you." Talking to herself had become a nighttime hobby for her, as she'd heard players say that if Daniel (whoever that was) talked to himself while they played, he could stay sane longer. She didn't know what that meant at all, but she found comfort in those words, and she talked to herself until she heard Rancis's shouts stop...and the sound of someone walking around on the upper floor. Luckily, she heard the light flick on, and Rancis lifted the covers and smiled at her.

"It's just me, relax." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on, I've got an extra room at my place that you can stay in, if you like."

"W-why? I can stay here, I mean, I'd hate to bother you..."

"No way, no how. This place is way too much like the mansion from the game. You'll lose your mind if you stay here much longer." He was right; the place did look oddly like he had described.

"Alright..." he helped her stand, and they walked out together.


	5. Be Able To Give

Gloyd was waiting for them near the RV1, and he waved happily. "Hey guys!"

"H-hi, Gloyd. What are you doing here?" Vanellope asked.

"Oh, I just brought this hunka' junk here for Rancis." Said boy gave him a well-natured glare, while Vanellope walked around the RV1.

"Good piece of machinery, this is." She smiled, patting Rancis's back proudly. He blushed a delicate shade of pink.

"It wasn't just me...You did all the work...I should thank you." Rancis replied, not wanting the glory for once. Gloyd made a gagging motion at Vanellope and smiled.

"Can we quit the crush-fest and get to the ride?" Gloyd asked, reaching into his hat and scratching his head a little bit. Vanellope gave him a warning look. Gloyd coughed.

"Well you guys at least. _The Candy-Corn Caper _is around this area, so...I'm heading home." With that, he bolted off into the forest, leaving them both to themselves.

Rancis had also taken a good look at his racing machine too, but he noticed a few problems-His expression wavered a bit.

"What's up? Nothing's broken, is it?" She asked him. Before he answered her, however, she noticed a bit of a problem with this idea of transportation.

"No...But...I just realized..." He started. She now knew why he was making that face.

"There is..."

"Only one seat..."

"In that...kart." The looked at each other for a moment, as if searching each other's eyes for some sort of answer to this...pressing issue.

"Well...I have an idea, but you certainly won't like it..." Rancis said, laughing nervously. Vanellope surveyed her surroundings-and gulped. Still pitch black. Still creepy. She shivered and turned to him.

"Anything is better than being stuck out here! Spit it out!" She whispered quickly, latching onto his arm.

"You are going to have to...ride on my lap..." He said, blushing.

She looked at him incredulously.

"Fine! But let's make this quick!" She began to blush as hopped into the kart and flicked on the headlights.

"Hop in..." He laughed weakly. She glared and sat on his lap without meeting his eyes. Rancis sighed to himself contentedly. He was going to make a remark about her weight, but he kept it to himself because she was actually quite light-it was comfortable to him-having her on his lap like that. He grinned broadly at her. She gave him a joking pout.

"What are you looking at, butterfingers?"

"Just...you know...you." He smiled at her again as he watched her look of confusion.

"Yeah? Why?" She asked him.

"Cause...I think you're really pretty." He said innocently, sincerely hoping she wouldn't push him away.

Rancis liked to be an honest boy, and so he always told himself the truth, even when he didn't want to. So, it made perfectly painful sense what he told himself next.

_You like her, more than you think you do. Maybe even...as more than a friend._


	6. Unless

(A/N):Here's another chapter for you guys! I'm gonna try to crank out the chapters for the next week or two, since I just got out on winter break. I also probably should have mentioned this earlier, but I do not own Wreck It-Ralph or any of the characters. Even though I f someone from Disney were to find this on a site called , what would they expect?

* * *

When he returned to his room, he found a sleeping Vanellope, under his covers. He sighed contentedly, turning off his lamp and lying next to her. Every few minutes she would squirm a bit, and so Rancis quelled her the same way he had earlier, with a soft and comforting song. She seemed to like it, judging by the way she softly slept and occasionally held onto him.

After about three hours, when the sun was just peeking its candy-coated rays over the horizon, Vanellope's eyes fluttered open. She was overtaken by surprise at first when she realized she wasn't in her "Prizadential" living quarters, but she soon became aware of the heat to her right and remembered where she was. Rancis stirred beside her, but made no effort to fully awaken. She searched under the covers for his hand, which she found relatively easily. He stirred again when she wrapped her fingers around his own. She yawned softly and snuggled up against him. She couldn't see it, but Rancis was blushing so hard that she could feel the extra warmth radiating from his body. She stretched a bit, unraveling their hands again and rolling on top of him so that she could see out of the window. Rancis smiled up at her.

"Good morning." She smiled back at him, still feeling a bit drowsy.

"Hey..." She pointed to the window. "Is that supposed to look that way?" He looked out of the window as well. Sure enough, there was a shadow on the windowsill, and it didn't look like a racer of any description.

Vanellope jumped, flying out from under the covers.

"G-get it away from me!" Rancis jolted as well, making a solid run for the door and unlocking it. Vanellope shrieked again as the sound of glass breaking was heard.

The chase continued for quite a long while, whether the issue became locked doors, or Vanellope frozen in pure horror from the monsters face, or...just about anything else. Luckily for them, they managed to escape the house, give or take a ton of shrieking from a frightened Vanellope.

About ten minutes away from the Kart-Racing game, Ralph was having a leisurely stroll around game central station, hoping to visit Vanellope before the arcade opened. Her screams of terror alerted him instantly that something wasn't right-he could feel a sort of tingling in his arms that told him so. He turned around and sprinted to _Hero's Duty_, knowing that Felix and Calhoun would be there.

* * *

(A/N): So...there's chapter 6, I guess. I think it was a bit rushed, but I was trying to get it out as fast as possible.


	7. I Can Fix It

A little later, the three of them were heading toward _Sugar Rush_, Ralph a little more frantic than the others to get there. Calhoun looked at Ralph.

"Are you positive that something's wrong in there?" She asked steely eyes boring into his. He broke eye contact and bit his finger nervously.

"I...I can just feel it! Vanellope's in trouble!" He ran harder, forcing Calhoun and Felix to move faster.

He rushed into the game's transport tube, not waiting for the train to arrive. He shut his eyes tight through the process, as entering a game without taking a form of transport gives the feel of your pixels being torn apart and reorganized. He landed flat on his face, not feeling anything from his crash. Calhoun and Felix followed close behind.

"Jiminy Jaminy... Where do you think Vanellope is?" He asked. Calhoun shrugged. "Wreck-It, You know anything?"

"Judging by what I heard, she should be over...There!" He stood up and bolted as fast as his stubby legs would carry him. Calhoun just hopped on her hover board and pulled Felix on with her.

"You...Will...Pay..." The monster drawled as it advanced on the two kids. Rancis gasped and searched frantically for a way out. Vanellope screamed and grabbed Rancis's jacket.

"You...Took...Him...Away!" It screeched. "He was all mines..." the large monster gripped Rancis and tore him from Vanellope's grip.

"That's...What...Taffy...Said..." Vanellope's eyes shot open. Taffy? Like, as in Taffyta? Realization of what was going on dawned in her head. While she sat on the floor feeling dazed, Rancis had been thinking of something to stop the monster.

_Come on pretty boy, think! _He thought urgently. _Say something, anything!_

"Dear friend, you seem to have a bit of something stuck in your...Teeth?" He tried lamely. The monster stared for a moment before responding.

"Do...me?" He held up a claw and traced the outside of his mouth, his forehead, and then his actual teeth. He toyed around in his mouth for about fifteen seconds. After that he yanked one of his teeth out in a grotesque manner.

"Fixed...It?" He struggled out the question. Rancis held his breath. This guy's breath really was horrid. The peanut butter boy forced a smile and looked this creature in the eyes, despite the fact that they seemed to be going in two different directions.

"Sure, it's good now." Rancis squeaked. "Um...tell me, do you have any idea why you're chasing me down...of all people? Surely your employer told you why?" Rancis held his breath again and braced for an answer.

"Umm...No...Do you...Have...An answer?" He asked with an attempt at a squint. Rancis exhaled and prepared his next tactful answer.

"Why, yes... however the answer you seek is not what you would expect. You want to know?"

The monster blinked, fooled with the three scraggly hairs on his head, and then nodded yes slowly.

"Okay. Listen carefully..."


End file.
